We have a new show up about the importance of Practical Wisdom. As Simon was "in the field", we're joined by Mark Salata (of Mining Gems). The discussion stems from Barry Schwartz TED Talk, titled "Using Our Practical Wisdom".
One thought that comes from listening to the discussion is the lack of leeway to learn from mistakes. Danny mentioned it when countering that a parent may be upset about teaching virtues in the classroom and then bring about a case against the whole program due to one overstep by a teacher. Do we want to model a litigious society within schools or do we want to model that mistakes are something to learn from (as opposed to simply punish and demean the person)?
Here are some thoughts gleaned from the TED talk… 1) Do others have our interests at heart? 2) The purpose of rules is to prevent doing "wrong" and the purpose of incentives is to encourage doing the right thing through self interest. 3) You need virtue and character to do the right thing... a moral will to do the right thing 4) You need skill to know how to do the right thing, and a skilled "moral craftsman" will bend rules to fit each situation 5) Rules/incentives demoralize the "pure hearted" (my words) and become the ends, not the means. 6) “Canny outlaws” find ways to “cheat” the system, but this approach is not sustainable 7) “System changers” try to transform the system... and are successful because they providing real service and produce results 8) People want to be virtuous, and what makes them happy is love and work that is meaningful and satisfying
So the basis of “practical wisdom” seems to be having common values and recognizing that rules and incentives need to serve this basis, and not replace it. There is no shortage of examples and stories of losing sight of the goal of an activity or process, or losing track of why the means of getting there were created. A story I always come back to is one of an army cook who cut off the ends of a roast before putting it in the oven… he was questioned by an inspecting general why he did it… he responded that it was what his mother did, so the general ordered him to find out why… the mother was asked, but her reason was the same, cutting off the ends is what her mother did, so she did it too… the mother’s mother was finally asked and her answer was that her pan was too short to hold the roast, so she cut the ends off.
Here is what I gleaned from the BotC podcast… 1) We don’t practice “practical wisdom” because the “exception creates the rules” 2) The only basis, the only value, that it appears we can agree on is common is safety or protection. 3) We don’t trust that others are “practically wise” if they don’t hold the identical values, knowledge. 4) One solution… have virtues taught in schools to learn the right thing to do 5) BUT parents may get upset that it will lead to teaching ideology… which would lead to more rules on how it is done or prevent it from being done 6) Can’t lose sight of the value of many rules to provide basic safety (e.g., traffic rules), prevent unfairness (e.g., discrimination) 7) We need to find good incentives to do good things… they are not intrinsically bad 8) Building community can help by improving our understanding what motivates us… how do we go about creating it? 9) Take an active role yourself!
I can’t argue with many of these points either. The BotC crew identified what I think is the issue that prevents a lot of progress in schools – that teaching values or virtues will be perceived as teaching ideology. So perhaps in our society which values science and technology so much, we need to base the approach on that is viewed as “science”. For example, Maslow’s Triangle could be used as the basis for developing curriculum that teaches virtues going from the basic needs of safety to self-actualization. Another approach could be to build on interfaith efforts to put common beliefs, such as the Golden Rule, into practice as described in this recent NPR interview… http://www.npr.org/2011/01/10/132809627/concrete-ways-to-live-a-compassionate-life
I don’t think any approach will be easy, but it is worthwhile to try.
Thanks sjscotti for such a thorough response. You may want to consider that The Virtues Project as developed is an interfaith project (see www.virtuesproject.com). It has been used in Canada, Australia, US, and other countries with success. I just hope that others will begin to see that the foundation of schools is weak if it doesn't weave virtues throughout the curriculum.
One thought that comes from listening to the discussion is the lack of leeway to learn from mistakes. Danny mentioned it when countering that a parent may be upset about teaching virtues in the classroom and then bring about a case against the whole program due to one overstep by a teacher. Do we want to model a litigious society within schools or do we want to model that mistakes are something to learn from (as opposed to simply punish and demean the person)?
ReplyDeleteHere are some thoughts gleaned from the TED talk…
ReplyDelete1) Do others have our interests at heart?
2) The purpose of rules is to prevent doing "wrong" and the purpose of incentives is to encourage doing the right thing through self interest.
3) You need virtue and character to do the right thing... a moral will to do the right thing
4) You need skill to know how to do the right thing, and a skilled "moral craftsman" will bend rules to fit each situation
5) Rules/incentives demoralize the "pure hearted" (my words) and become the ends, not the means.
6) “Canny outlaws” find ways to “cheat” the system, but this approach is not sustainable
7) “System changers” try to transform the system... and are successful because they providing real service and produce results
8) People want to be virtuous, and what makes them happy is love and work that is meaningful and satisfying
So the basis of “practical wisdom” seems to be having common values and recognizing that rules and incentives need to serve this basis, and not replace it. There is no shortage of examples and stories of losing sight of the goal of an activity or process, or losing track of why the means of getting there were created. A story I always come back to is one of an army cook who cut off the ends of a roast before putting it in the oven… he was questioned by an inspecting general why he did it… he responded that it was what his mother did, so the general ordered him to find out why… the mother was asked, but her reason was the same, cutting off the ends is what her mother did, so she did it too… the mother’s mother was finally asked and her answer was that her pan was too short to hold the roast, so she cut the ends off.
Here is what I gleaned from the BotC podcast…
1) We don’t practice “practical wisdom” because the “exception creates the rules”
2) The only basis, the only value, that it appears we can agree on is common is safety or protection.
3) We don’t trust that others are “practically wise” if they don’t hold the identical values, knowledge.
4) One solution… have virtues taught in schools to learn the right thing to do
5) BUT parents may get upset that it will lead to teaching ideology… which would lead to more rules on how it is done or prevent it from being done
6) Can’t lose sight of the value of many rules to provide basic safety (e.g., traffic rules), prevent unfairness (e.g., discrimination)
7) We need to find good incentives to do good things… they are not intrinsically bad
8) Building community can help by improving our understanding what motivates us… how do we go about creating it?
9) Take an active role yourself!
I can’t argue with many of these points either. The BotC crew identified what I think is the issue that prevents a lot of progress in schools – that teaching values or virtues will be perceived as teaching ideology. So perhaps in our society which values science and technology so much, we need to base the approach on that is viewed as “science”. For example, Maslow’s Triangle could be used as the basis for developing curriculum that teaches virtues going from the basic needs of safety to self-actualization. Another approach could be to build on interfaith efforts to put common beliefs, such as the Golden Rule, into practice as described in this recent NPR interview…
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/10/132809627/concrete-ways-to-live-a-compassionate-life
I don’t think any approach will be easy, but it is worthwhile to try.
Thanks sjscotti for such a thorough response. You may want to consider that The Virtues Project as developed is an interfaith project (see www.virtuesproject.com). It has been used in Canada, Australia, US, and other countries with success. I just hope that others will begin to see that the foundation of schools is weak if it doesn't weave virtues throughout the curriculum.
ReplyDelete